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How do you go on living when the ones you love have died? That's the question that Azrael's Stop has one simple answer to: stories. This novella and multi-media project from Silverstring Media explores how our stories give our lives -- and our deaths -- meaning to others, and how friends can help us through the darkest times. The final part of the project, the anthology Tales of the Stop, releases on September 24th.

Originally an experimental Twitter fiction project from writer/producer Lucas J.W. Johnson, Azrael's Stop was published as a YA fantasy ebook in 2013, along with a full original soundtrack -- which includes three songs referenced in the story. Silverstring Media then put out a call for submissions of short stories for its follow-up anthology, which includes original stories from 10 authors that help fill out and complete the saga begun in Azrael's Stop.

"We have always used stories to help us understand our world and our own lives," says Lucas J.W. Johnson, who wrote and produced Azrael's Stop and edited Tales of the Stop. "Stories teach us empathy, and show us experiences outside our own. In Azrael's Stop, I explored how stories could help us, but I wanted to take that theme further: by inviting other writers to tell stories in my world, with my characters, I wanted to open our readers up to even more."

No myth is just a myth. No song is just a song. No story just a story. Telling it gives it meaning. Hearing it gives it meaning. Gives it power. There is great power in story, in music. There is truth in even the most blatant fiction. You find the meaning you need.

— Nael, Azrael's Stop Chapter 3

The anthology includes not only traditional short stories, but a one-act play and an interactive fiction game. "Azrael's Stop was originally built on the idea of experimentation, of mixing media forms to help tell the story," Johnson says. "In the original novella, this survives mostly in the music that accompanies it, though I originally envisioned interactive games, comics, and more. So I wanted to invite writers of more than just short stories to contribute to Tales, to continue to embrace that idea, that different types of media can tell different types of stories."

Accompanying the September 24th release of Tales of the Stop is the publication of a second edition of Azrael's Stop with a new foreword by Johnson.

Both books are now available in .pdf, .epub, and .mobi form at http://silverstringmedia.com/store, where the digital album is also sold. The full project is available as a discounted bundle for only $13.99, and each piece is also available at the following places:

Silverstring has three branches: our studio produces original content including games, music, and fiction; our consultancy works with clients as writers and designers to make your projects better; and our non-profit critical publishing society seeks to support the industry by publishing top-level artistic criticism and explorations.